Chapter Text
Nobara clicked her tongue, glaring at the figure of the insensitive white-haired man sitting across her—on their table—during lunch. Just looking at him made something inside her rile up. "Why the hell are you here again? Don't you have any friends?"
Megumi was in the same state: annoyed and fed up as they stared at their blind senior (an inside joke between Megumi and his friends because said senior liked wearing different eyeshades to school) who had nothing to do but to annoy the shit out of them every 12 in the afternoon.
Satoru, the senior, pouted at his kohai. He slumped his shoulders down and acted as if he was being bullied. "Why do you make it sound like we're not friends? We are, aren't we?"
"Whatever helps you sleep at night." She rolled her eyes, "But I'm talking about friends your age, Gojo-san."
"What?!" Satoru looked offended, "My age?! Do I need those?" And he was obviously overreacting.
Nobara knew that. Megumi, as he sipped on his blueberry milk box absent-mindedly, also knew that; except for the loveliest, the sunshine, the light of the trio group: Yuuji Itadori.
Yuuji was the only one appearing to enjoy the weird, creepy older man's presence as he patted Satoru's shoulder and smiled. "It's okay, Gojo-senpai. We are your friends~ They're just kidding. You can stay."
Megumi snorted, "Are we?" Before he was kicked by Yuuji under the table.
That made Satoru burst into glee and playfully hugged the junior sitting beside him, "Aw~ Yuuji! You're truly the best. Unlike these two," he whispered the last part then continued, "Of course, since you insisted, I will stay!"
"He didn't even insist."
Satoru turned his head and looked away, "Yes, he did."
"I didn't."
"Yes, you did."
Megumi finished his milk box before actively joining the dispute. "What happened with Ieiri-senpai and Suguru-san?"
"Psh, those two are ignoring me." Satoru grunted, remembering the two preferring to hang out with Mahito instead of him as revenge. He leaned back to his chair smugly. "They probably realized how hard it is to hang out with someone as handsome as me. Pretty tough if I must say."
Yuuji's eyes comically widened. If it was only Ieiri who was ignoring Satoru, then it would have been okay—that was normal—but Suguru?
"Suguru-senpai is ignoring you?! What did you do?" Yuuji asked.
"Literally nothing! I'm 1.00% sure it's not my fault. I'm not a troublemaker, Yuuji-kun." The older man retorted.
Megumi and Nobara looked at each other, menacing smiles forming on their faces as they realized Satoru's pitiful but funny situation. They bumped their fists together and smirked.
"Pfft. Deserved."
After Satoru felt mocked and triggered, he threw an uncapped ballpoint pen towards the two and finally made Yuuji laugh at their silliness.
It had always been like this whenever the four of them spent their time together. Despite being college students, they had always been chaotic, teasing each other and trying to test one's limit of finesse and patience. The dark blue-haired freshman, Megumi, was usually the target of those tests.
Yuuji, Megumi and Nobara met during JJK University's first day of classes. In spite of not sharing the same characteristics, hobbies nor values, the three hit it off splendidly the moment they realized someone had closed the campus gate and left them hanging outside. The closing of the gate, which was surely done by the school guard, only meant one thing, the only thing they should have been careful not to do in the first place—they were late.
The jolly brunette and the scary bob-hair girl gasped and started singing, "What do we do~? Ah, what do we do about this~?", while dancing in circles. Fortunately, one of them was calm and effectively made a solution on how to catch up with their classes (because attending the first day of college is a MUST.) Megumi had no choice but to include the other two or else he'd only feel bad afterwards. Yuuji and Nobara practically cried and cooed at Megumi after the latter said he could pick the lock and force the gate to open. When the mission was deemed successful, the three thanked and bid goodbyes to one another.
The boy with a blinding smile, the loudest of the three, even shouted, "It's a shame we won't be seeing each other after this. You two are so cool! It was nice meeting you!!" before they walked through different paths.
The shame disappeared was non-existent in the first place. Because oddly enough, the three idiots saw each other again. They met during the second period, then third period, then the fourth, and still saw each other at lunch. Who would have thought they'd have a chance to continue bothering each other. Fate must be laughing its ass off; they all have the same courses.
When Megumi saw Yuuji and Nobara crazily waving at him one afternoon, urging him to approach and sit on their table, he had to resist himself from running away and give up to their calls pathetically. Megumi was met with excited yet plotting smiles after he sat down at the space beside Yuuji and sighed. He looked at the two with defeated eyes.
"Goddammit." He immediately knew they would be his friends, the question would be 'for how long?' because, goddammit—really, Megumi didn't have enough stamina to keep up with those full-battery human beings.
(Little did he know, Yuuji and the girl were planning to hold their friendship for a very, very long time. 'Forever' in other words.)
Now, for the famous, star-student Satoru Gojo, it would be an easier explanation. Megumi knew Satoru from his old high school. They were schoolmates for 5 years and knew each other for god knows how long. But Satoru was never this clingy to Megumi. In the past, whenever Megumi would push annoying Satoru off, the latter would just whine off before strutting away.
However, things changed. For the better?
FOR THE WORST.
It all started when Satoru caught little Megumi's hair in the pool of college students, met Nobara, then Yuuji, before all hell went loose. Satoru and Yuuji simply agreed on so many things. Yuuji was a giver and Satoru was a total receiver—they were a match made, the type Megumi was regretting to even help on creating—so it didn't take long before the senior took a liking in spending an hour or two (sometimes even more, sometimes EVEN weekends) and his lunch with the trio.
In the present, JJK University was playing the same heartful scene. Just another afternoon where students are bundled in the cafeteria to eat whatever lunch the school was willing to give them. The tables were flooded with college students and the air occupying the room was full of greetings, laughter and conversations. Megumi, with Nobara's unhelpful help, hid and even tried their best to avoid a day of spending time with Gojo, but to no avail (and because of, tsk, Yuuji!), the loud senior found them again. It had been like that for 4 consecutive days now.
Silence enveloped the table after the mini-fight (throwing of pens-dangerously) between Nobara and Satoru had calmed down. Megumi grumbled silently, chewing the insides of his cheeks upon feeling the uneasiness surrounding the vibe of his friends. He rolled his eyes, "You know if you wanna talk, just talk."
Satoru was the first to exhale, a hand on his chest as if he was being held against his right to breath. "Oh, thank God! You all suddenly shut up. The silence was deafening, I thought I was going to die."
Yuuji and Nobara eventually did the same and started chatting. They really couldn't shut up for more than 5 minutes to save a life.
"So where are we going later, Yuuji?" Kugisaki grinned and started.
"Yeah, where are we going later, Yuuji-kun?"
Megumi immediately glared at Satoru while Nobara folded up her sleeves, preparing to punch. "You're not coming with us."
The older one only scoffed and ignored the two, "Tell me~ Shall we make plans for later?"
Yuuji awkwardly chuckled, a hand reaching to caress his nape for comfort. "I'm sorry senpai, I already have plans after classes."
Nobara pleasingly puffed her chest on Satoru and snickered. “You hear that, old man. ‘We’ have plans.”
“Ehehe…actually,” Yuuji flushed in embarrassment, “It’ll be just me. I have something to do later.”
Satoru hurriedly stood up from his seat and pointed a mocking finger at Kugisaki. “HA! Sucks for you then. You think you’ve won, huh!”
Nobara then proceeded to hit Yuuji’s head for being too slow and for making her lose face in front of the damn senior. “Why didn’t you say that from the beginning!”
“It wasn’t that important anyway-Ouch! Stop hitting me.” Yuuji looked at his other friend, pleading, “Megumi, help!”
“Don’t look at me.”
“What are you even doing later? You’re not secretly selling drugs, aren’t you?” Nobara’s voice was suspecting him.
Yuuji gasped and hid behind his Satoru-senpai, who diligently protected him from Nobara’s throwing hands, “That’s mean! Where did that idea come from! I just want to dye my hair.”
Megumi whipped his head back at the table, surprised, “Why?” Which Satoru countered happily with, “Why not!”
Yuuji pouted, touched his soft hair gently and massaged the strands with his fingers. “Well, I had pink hair in high school. It was more like a muted pink color, not too bright, not too pastel, so I really liked it. But ever since the place I used to go for my hair closed, I never saw that color in any other salon again. My hair basically just grew out the hue."
"So you finally found one?" Satoru asked.
Yuuji beamed a smile and stood up, "Nope! That's why I need to go alone later. I'm still on a journey to find that pink dye color."
"Why don't you just go for a different color? Blue or something?"
Satoru and Nobara gasped in chorus, looking at Megumi with horrified eyes, shaking.
"What are you saying, you stupid dog-feeder?! Yuuji is definitely a pink person!"
"Shame! Shame on you, Megumi! Yuuji-kun won't be using a dye other than pink. Pink! Aren't you curious what he'll look like in pink?!"
Megumi felt his nerves attempting to pop out of his neck, "There's obviously a picture for that if you're interested to see Yuuji in pink, freaking pervert."
"Hey, I heard that. Who're you calling a pervert!"
Yuuji laughed, his eyes turning into a beautiful shape of crescents as he spoke, "Sure, I have plenty of pictures of me in high school." He began to scroll on his phone and stopped when he saw a selfie featuring his hair after his first dye. "Here! You can—"
"Nu-uh!" Satoru shoved the phone back to Yuuji. "You can't do that."
Yuuji tilted his head and let his phone get back to his pocket. "Why? I thought you wanna see?"
"Not like that!" Nobara interrupted while she had both of her hands covering her eye sockets.
Satoru nodded and pretended to cover his eyes too even when he was already wearing shades for his eyes. "If we're going to see you in an interesting hair style, it should definitely be in person. Pictures are banned!"
"But Gojo-senpai, I'm serious when I said it's hard to find that specific color. I already jogged two cities for it but nothing was close to its nudish hue."
Megumi sighed, "That's why I said you should just—"
"Shut up!" Nobara hit the other to make him shut up.
"Don't worry, Yuuji-kun," Satoru leaned down towards the junior, placing both of his hands on the younger's shoulder excitedly, "I can help you."
Yuuji saw light reflected on Satoru's shades as he stared at him in wonder, "Hmm?"
The senior grinned and chuckled, "I know a place."
"Really?!"
"Really!"
"This color is really unique and special, and I want to be the only person in Tokyo, perhaps Japan, to have it. Will that place really have it?"
"It will, Yuuji-kun. Every color they mix is special and solely made for one customer only. As long as you remember what it looks like, you can ask them to mix you one!"
Yuuji gasped joyously, "Tell me where the place is, senpai!"
Fushiguro face-palmed and punched Yuuji on his arm, "Are you seriously going to believe him?"
Megumi didn't even bother asking Nobara to back him up for he knew she'd disagree and let Yuuji dye his hair pink too.
"Wha—Of course! It's Gojo-senpai. What could even go wrong?" The short man uttered as if it was the most innocent phrase in the universe.
An hour later after Yuuji sprinted 14 kilometers from Tokyo to Ichikawa, he finally found the salon Satoru was disturbing him about. His senior explained that since the salon facilitates accepts unique hair cuts and high-quality hair dyes, the payment would come in (kinda very) high prices, but overall it’ll be worth it. Yuuji gladly and quickly accepted the recommendation, money be damned as long as he could get his hands on a hair color only Yuuji Itadori can possess.
The building design and structure further proved the salon's popularity and high standing. The walls were finely polished oak woods accented with strips of black steels, bulbs lighting the front door and each corner of the premises, and red leathered furnitures peaking through the big, clear windows: a perfect replica of a barber shop built in the early 1900’s era in England. Yuuji wondered how a salon like that existed in the middle of Japan and why he never saw it when he was searching for a good parlor to go to.
The place was intimidating but Yuuji still approached the glistening door quietly and opened it with a smile. He felt relieved when he was welcomed with the same grin and cheerful enthusiasm.
“Welcome to Domain Limited! How may I assist you?” One of the staff said.
The male salon was fortunately not crowded since it was a weekday and it gave Yuuji more chances to snoop around and gape at the place's seemingly expensive grooming tools.
“Uhm, hello. Hi. I’m here for a hair treatment. I want to color my hair.”
The staff nodded, “Is this your first time? May I get your name?”
“Yuuji, Yuuji Itadori. First time here but not the first time dyeing my hair.”
The staff pulled out a notebook from the counter and started writing, “So Hair Coloring. Just that?” Yuuji nodded. “Alright, follow me.”
While Yuuji was dragged from the entrance to one of the client longue seats, the staff patiently continued to ask for information so they could proceed with the treatment as accurately and as soon as possible.
“Do you have a specific color in mind?” The staff inquired.
“Pink! A one of a kind, special pink. My friend actually referred me to this salon and told me that you can create unique colors per singular request by the customer?”
One of the staff’s eyebrows went up for a second but they nodded nonetheless, “That’s right. We accept color customization and how the client wants it to be applied on their hair. We also have fixed color palettes, each hue consisting of 30 different shades from lightest to darkest. What would you like to work with?”
“Oh god, are you a paint shop?” Yuuji whispered, which made the staff laugh and shake their head.
“We get that a lot.”
Yuuji embarrassingly chuckled as he didn’t mean to let the other hear his comment. “Yep, uhm-I’ll go with the palettes. I might find it there.”
“Sure thing! We have baby pink, light pink, rose, salmon, strawberry, coral, pink, pink pink, pink pink pink, pink pink pink pink and many more.”
Yuuji was dumb-founded with all the names and the staff’s eager explanation. He knew he wasn't good with colors to begin with but what the fuck was that.
“S-Sorry, I don’t really know the difference between pink pink and pink pink pink, do you have any visuals?”
The other laughed at Yuuji’s adorable obliviousness. “Of course, sir, wait a bit.”
However, before the staff completely disappeared behind the wall divider, they looked at Yuuji and pondered a curious question, “If you don’t mind, may I know the name of the friend who referred you to this place? I could give you a discount if they’re a regular.”
Yuuji turned his attention away from the mirror in front of him and gazed at the other’s waiting figure. A discount to a place like this would certainly help.
“Sure! It’s Satoru Gojo. White hair.” Please be a regular, Gojo-senpai.
“Oh, Mr. Gojo! He’s a regular. Okay then, I can give you a 10% discount for your first time.”
Yuuji immediately felt the corner of his lips curve up bliss. “Thank you!”
The treatment and hair coloring took 6 hours. 6 FREAKING HOURS. And he only had short hair! Not only did Yuuji pay 35,000 yen, discount included (he almost cried at the registrar), his butt was aching from sitting too long and he was hungry. Mad dizzy, kind of hungry. When he got out of the salon, he was limping, broke and teary-eyed yet in the end, the pain was soothed by something more satisfying. He was out of money, sure, but damn if he wasn’t beautiful. The brown hair he used to have became a pretty glimmering pink under the sunshine of the setting orange sun. It wasn't the same pink, it was close, but he thought this color suited his more. Despite the chemical smell lingering on each short strand, Yuuji’s hair felt soft and fluffy. The light easily reflected on its surface creating a mellow halo atop of his head.
Yuuji looked stunning.
Then his stomach growled like a wolf fighting for its territory. Reality hit him. Yuuji sighed, “I want curry.”